15 Top Graphic Design Limericks for your Amusement

My son nabbed Edward Lear’s Complete Book of Nonsense from the library some time ago. It was one of my favorite books growing up. I wondered if it was possible to write limericks about Graphic Design. I penned some (dare I call it) Graphic Design Poetry and now post the results for your amusement and bemoanment:

Topics include:

Clients

Typography

Designers

User Interfaces

Adobe

Illustration by Edward Lear, courtesy of “T”eresa

SPACE

There once was a graphic designer
Who could not draw a straight liner
Fresh out of school
She thought she was cool
And soon was a cook in a diner!

There once was a trendy typesetter
Who thought “less is more is more better”
“I’ll sit here and scratch
at my tiny soul patch,
Until my design is one letter.”

There once was a UI Designer
Who thought a right-nav was more finer.
But users bemoaned
When they could not find “Home”,
And simply restarted their browser.

There once was a client so wiley
He asked for every source filey.
He’d edit them twice
And say “Now they’re nice!”
And we’d stare at him with a blank smiley

There once was a designer so immature
She had not yet heard of a ligature.
She’d kern “f” and “i”
And then make a sigh
While wishing for one nice clean character.

There was an “Adobe Updater”
Who’s button said “Update me later”.
Whenever we’d work,
It popped up like a jerk.
And so we are “Updater” haters!

A prominent button called “Home”
Caused UI elitists to foam.
“It should not be there!”
And they tore out their hair,
Then banged their heads on a big stone.

In Dreamweaver there was a bug,
But Adobe was silently smug.
“Pretend it’s not there!”
Said support with no care,
And swept the bug under the rug!

There once was a client so bozo
He thought he’d design his own logo.
He did it in raster,
And thought it was faster
Because bezier curves he did not know.

There once was client so lame
He flipped when he saw a wireframe
“The graphics are sparse,
And your firm is a farse!”
But we knew that this man did have no brain.

There once was a program called Freehand
It was the best tool in the whole land
But the software was sold
To Adobe the bold
And Freehand was soon no more at hand.

A designer with senses so fickle
He felt every unaligned pixel
“It’s off by a bit!
What are you a twit?”
And for lunch he ate ought but sour pickles.

There once was a blogging designer
Who said “I will sooner retire!
I’ll write blogs all day,
And sip my latte.”
But soon found his finances goner.

A program called Photo the Shopper
Was loaded with menus and slopper
“Just raise the price
to make naughty nice”
But users soon proved this a flopper.

Adobe the Great was a giant
To whom all it’s slaves was defiant:
“While charging more price,
I’ll make things less nice!”
And to this day all are compliant.

About Douglas Bonneville

Douglas has been a graphic designer since 1992, in addition to software developer and author. He is a member of Smashing Magazine's "Panel of Experts" and has contributed to over 100 articles. He is the author of "The Big Book of Font Combinations", loves cats, and plays guitar.

Comments

I like to have fun with this stuff. I love the Catholic Charities fold-out piece on your site – super clever! Do you do “Catholic Marketing”? An entire post on Catholic or Christian marketing would be very interesting! We created a sub-brand called Handmaid Studio, but found that marketing in the Catholic sphere is more than challenging 😉 : http://www.handmaidstudio.com

I somehow acquired the Complete Book of Nonsense when I was in grammar school. I loved it and must have read the limericks hundreds of times. I lost it along the way and then as an adult (or at least when I was older) found it in a bookstore and have it to this day.
Thanks for continuing the fun with your clever new versions!
Cheers, Dyann

Hi Dyann. I too came across it in grammar school, during “library time”. I loved the drawings as much, if not more, than the limericks. I found Lear’s irreverent and silly drawings very modern, in a certain sense. I didn’t think people back in the 19th century drew, much less conceived, such silliness. It has crossed my mind to illustrate these, but the to do list is rather long these days!

Hi Shabbir: I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “is it going to look like that?” and “what is all the latin and greek – is that going to change?”. I suppose they are valid questions if a client has never gone through a web design process before!